Voters in Sierra County overwhelmingly approved an increase in the sales tax to help fund Spaceport America, New Mexico’s ambitious effort to build a gateway to the stars.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that 65 percent of voters approved the .25 cent tax increase, a wider margin than some had predicted. The 42 percent turnout was the highest ever for a special election.
“I’m feeling good,” New Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director Steve Landeene said. “It’s been an emotional day and obviously the outcome is a very positive emotion.”
The approval means that a taxation district can be formally established with Dona Ana County, whose residents narrowly approved the tax increase last year. Voters in neighboring Otera County will go to the polls in November.
New Mexico hopes the spaceport will be used for a variety of purposes, most prominently to send tourists on suborbital flights. The state is in negotiations with London-based Virgin Galactic to be an anchor tenant.
The small, quiet town of Truth or Consequences, NM - best known for its thriving arts community and its access to hot springs and the state’s largest lake - has been thrust into the center of a debate over our future in space.
On Tuesday, voters in this community of 7,000 will help decide the fate of Spaceport America, New Mexico’s ambitious effort to build a gateway to the heavens. Residents in T or C and throughout Sierra County will vote on a .25 cent increase in the gross receipts tax to help fund the $198 million facility in the southern part of the county. A “yes” vote is crucial to forming a tax district with neighboring Doña Ana and Otera counties.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the vote could go either way. A pro-spaceport tax group, People for Aerospace, has been campaigning heavily throughout Sierra County, promoting the project’s economic benefits. However, other residents have opposed the tax increase, placing anti-tax signs on T or C streets and staging a rally over the weekend.
Continue reading ‘Quiet NM Town Divided on Eve of Crucial Spaceport Vote’
Only days before a crucial public vote on funding Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic has dangled the offer of one free spaceflight per year if residents approve a tax increase to help fund the spaceport.
The Las Cruces Sun-Times, quoting an Albuquerque Journal story, reports that Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn made the offer on Tuesday during a public forum in Truth or Consequences. The London-based company is expected to be an anchor tenant at the desert facility.
Voters in T or C and throughout Sierra County will go to the polls on Tuesday to vote on a .25 cent increase in the gross receipts tax. Approval is required to form a three-county tax district with Doña Ana and Otera counties.
Only one resident in the three counties would be able to go on a suborbital flight per year. The flights are being retailed at $200,000 each.
The vote in Sierra County is expected to be close, as was the one last year in Doña Ana County. (Otera residents have yet to vote.) The sprawling, sparsely populated county has about 12,600 residents, one in five of whom live below the poverty line. More than 28 percent of residents are 65 years or older. And Sierra County’s median household income in 2004 was only $23,821, less than two-thirds of New Mexico’s $37,838 median income.
The flurry of activity surrounding Spaceport America continued this week as an Albuquerque company agreed to continue using New Mexico’s rocket base.
Microgravity Enterprises Incorporated signed a memorandum of understanding with the spaceport. The company produces energy drinks and other products from ingredients flown on suborbital rockets.
Earlier in the week, the company’s rocket provider, UP Aerospace of Colorado, agreed to continue using the facility for another 10 years. In recent weeks, the New Mexico Space Authority gave its executive director authority to begin negotiations with space tourism provider Virgin Galactic. Governor Bill Richardson also traveled to Washington, DC, where he sought support from the federal government.
All this activity comes on the eve of a crucial April 22 vote by residents of Sierra County over whether to raise the county sales tax by .25 cents to help pay for construction of an upgraded spaceport capable of handling tourism flights. The vote is expected to be close.
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has granted Executive Director Steve Landeene the authority to sign a legally binding development agreement with Virgin Galactic, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.
“The agreement commits Virgin Galactic to a 20-year lease to host its space tourism operations at the spaceport but is not an actual lease. Rather, it is a precursor to a lease, Landeene said Sunday,” the paper reports.
News of the agreement could help Spaceport America, which faces a crucial funding vote in just over two weeks. Residents of Sierra County will be going to the polls on April 22 to vote on a .25-cent increase in the sales tax to help fund the spaceport’s construction.
The vote - like a similar measure that was approved by residents in Doña Ana County - is expected to be close. Opponents have questioned why they should be subsiding a spaceport where the anchor tenant will be Virgin Galactic - a company that plans to fly wealthy tourists on suborbital flights for $200,000 apiece. Sierra County contains a fair number of retirees living on fixed incomes.
In a separate editorial, the Sun-News editors urged Sierra County residents to support the tax increase.
“We believe Spaceport America in particular, and space commercialization in general, can be an important piece of New Mexico’s future economy. And most of the economic benefit will land in our backyard,” the editors wrote.
